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Governor's State of the State Address Attacks "Obamacare"

Jan. 21, 2013

Last week, Governor Haley used her State of the State address to continue her campaign against full implementation of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) in South Carolina. She spoke directly to Medicaid expansion and the Federal Government’s offer of a 9 to 1 match as a solution that our state simply cannot afford. However, she also alluded to a plan to treat rural and urban hospitals differently by fully reimbursing rural hospitals for their uncompensated care.

We applaud our Governor’s commitment to our rural hospitals, but SCHA has concerns that this piecemeal approach to protecting South Carolina’s safety net hospitals is not comprehensive and doesn’t come close to the benefits associated with Medicaid expansion. If anything, Governor Haley’s comments Wednesday night about healthcare in our state only create more uncertainty for how our hospitals will deal with the massive Medicare cuts included in the ACA.

SCHA will continue to wade through the politics surrounding “Obamacare” in order to provide you the real facts about Medicaid expansion in South Carolina. We will also be working with the Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) to get more details about Governor Haley’s new plan to reform hospital reimbursement. Until then, we reaffirm our support for Medicaid expansion in South Carolina.